Posted in: ABC, streaming, TV | Tagged: ABC, academy awards, chris rock, oscars, will smith

Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock During Oscars Over Jada Pinkett Smith Joke

Well, that's one way to get people to forget just how tragically bad the Regina Hall, Amy Schumer & Wanda Sykes-hosted ABC broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards was tonight. In a move that left the Academy Awards audience in stunned silence and result in an awkward & abrupt cut of the broadcast, nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Will Smith (King Richard) apparently took offense at the jokes Chris Rock was making as a presenter on stage regarding Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith: "Jada, I love you, 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it." From there, Smith would take the stage and apparently slap Rock across the face as the two continued to have an exchange, with Smith saying loudly on several occasions, "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth."

Here's a look at the moment when it happened during the live Oscars broadcast, with special thanks to Discussing Film for the quality clip (censored for language):

The 94th Oscars were held tonight at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and were televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. American Sign Language (ASL) provided by Certified Deaf Interpreters, live closed-captioning and audio description will be available during the live broadcast. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 10,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and International Feature Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multiple branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. This year, the Academy saw its highest-ever voter participation in the organization's history, with members submitting ballots from 82 countries. Active members of the Academy were eligible to vote for the winners in all 23 categories beginning Thursday, March 17, and ending on Tuesday, March 22.

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